Sept. 21, 2016

We must be careful not to lose focus on the people God has put directly in and around our life. Even though Jesus expands our definition of neighbor in the story of the good Samaritan, he is not excluding our literal neighbor, the ones right next door to us or even in our own house. Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon, in their book The Art of Neighboring, say this: “ The problem is, however, that when we aim for everything, we hit nothing. So when we insist we’re neighbors with everybody, often we end up being neighbors with nobody. That’s our human nature. We become like the lawyer looking for a loophole.”

The first place we must look to share the Gospel is in our immediate circles of influence. In John 1:35-42, Andrew follows Jesus and, after spending time with him, immediately goes and brings his brother to come see Jesus. God has specifically placed us where we are—in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, gyms, and on sports teams—on purpose. The church is God's instrument today to deliver his message and love to the world, even your family and neighbors.